"There's Nothing Wrong with Mouldy Cheese"

Each person in the UK disposes of about £400 of food per year, the equivalent to £65m per day in the UK. Most of the food disposed of is perfectly safe to eat. Fare Share distributes quality surplus food to 12 000, homeless and vunerable people each day in the UK. Over 100 companies supply Fare Share with its daily food requirements through offloading stock from stores and distribution centres which will not be able to reach the public in sufficient time before the "Best Before" date.

"The food industry sometimes had to put "very, very healthy" use-by dates on products because of "really tight legislation"
Alex Green, Marketing Director, Charity Fare Share

Best Before

But what does "Best Before" really mean? ... In reality these dates appear on a range of dried, tinned, frozen and other foods, however these dates refer to quality rather than the safe consumption of the food. After the "Best Before" date the quality of the product may deteriate, mainly in flavour and texture. There is one exception to this rule which is eggs. Eggs can contain salmonella bacteria, which can easily multiply (doubling every 20 minutes). Note that the date is only relevant should you follow the manufactures instructions on storage of the product.

Use By

Generally found on products with a short shelf life, such as milk, fresh fish, eggs and fresh meat. Don't use any food or drink after the end of the 'use by' date on the label, even if it looks and smells fine. This is because using it after this date could put your health at risk. Note that the date is only relevant should you follow the manufactures instructions on storage of the product.

Display Until

Date marks such as 'display until' or 'sell by' often appear near or next to the 'best before' or 'use by' date. They are used by some shops to help with stock control and are instructions for shop staff, not shoppers.

"There's nothing wrong with mouldy cheese, just cut the mould off"

Anthony Worrall Thompson, Celebrity Chef, Suggesting we are too quick to throw out food.

For more information on what is safe to eat visit Choice.

The issue of food waste is fast becoming an issue, with 6.7m tonnes of food waste reaching landfills each year (about 110kg per person). To reduce the waste we should first prevent, here is a plan which you should enact today and will only take 20 minutes.

• Sort your cupboards
  
  • Arrange your cupboards, fridge and freezer to ensure that you have no food which is past its "use by" date.
  • Arrange food by type and place in date order with the most recent date to the front.
  • You may find that you can survive without visiting the supermarket for a few weeks.
• Plan your meals
  
  • Plan in advance meals over a week, you do not need to physically write this down but mentally take note.
  • Be creative you can create some wonderful combinations from the scraps you find in a fridge.
• Plan your purchases
  
  • Plan in advance what you need from the supermarket.
  • Don't be tempted to buy items through special offers which you may not need or use within the use by date.
  • Do not buy items which you have multiples already.
    
  • Only purchase enough pershiables which you can use within the dates.
• Composting
  
  • Any food which you do not consume by the use by date can be added to a compost heap.
  • Packaged foods excessively past their best before date can be removed from their packaging and composted and the packaging recycled.
    
  • Compost bins can be purchased relatively cheaply and some local councils offer free compost bins.
    
  • Find Your Local Council Contact Details.